HMO fire regulations

Back in January 2023, new fire safety regulations came into force for HMOs following the Grenfell Fire tragedy. As a HMO landlord, it’s essential to understand and be compliant with these regulations.

In this post, we’ll review the new fire regs for HMO properties and HMO landlords.

Who is the responsible person for HMO?

The Regulatory Form (Fire Safety) Order 2005 sets out the legal requirements for fire safety in the common areas of houses of multiple occupation, maisonettes and blocks of flats. For all qualifying properties, there must be a responsible person for ensuring compliance. Normally, this is the landlord or managing agent.

The HMO fire regulations also state that the responsible person must:

• Carry out a fire risk assessment
• Provide fire safety information to the tenants (more on this later)
• Display fire safety instructions on fire doors within the property.

Where do the new fire safety regulations apply?

The new fire safety regulations apply to residential buildings with stories above the ground that have two or more domestic dwellings or rooms for residential purposes. These dwellings may be: individual flats, self-contained flats, or rooms that are let out individually within a shared house, regardless of whether they have a communal area.

The regulations cover common areas that tenants would use as escape routes in case of a fire or other emergency. These areas include:

• Flat entrance doors
• Corridors or stairways
• Walls and floors that the occupants of two or more individual dwellings have in common
• Walls and floors that separate individual dwellings from other individual dwellings (like plant rooms containing boilers, ventilation etc.)
• Non domestic areas like laundries and commercial premises
• External walls including the doors and window within the walls
• Attachment to external walls like balconies.

As you can see, there is quite a range. Internal living spaces of residential areas aren’t covered except for items like smoke alarms and sprinklers that are part of the communal fire alarm system inside those dwellings.

What the new fire safety regulations require you to do

There are two major changes to the new fire safety regulations: 9 and 10.

Regulation 9 of the HMO fire regulations – display of fire safety instructions around your property

This regulation requires you to install prominent safety instructions wherever the regulations apply within the property, including communal areas. The instructions must contain guidance on how to evacuate the property, how to report the fire, and any other relevant information.

It is also your responsibility to tell existing tenants the rules they have to follow within 12 months of the start of the regulation, and every 12 months afterwards. You must make sure you tell new tenants within a month of moving in, but ideally sooner.

Note that if you make any material changes to the advice, all signage needs to be updated and they need to be continually displayed in all prominent positions around the building. Again, tenants must be told within a month of the change.

Regulation 10 – provision of information to tenants About fire doors

Regulation ten covers more fire regs for HMO, with a focus on fire doors. You need to tell all tenants that:

• All fire doors must be closed when not being used
• They are forbidden from tampering with self-closing devices attached to fire doors
• They must report any damages or faults to a fire door to the responsible person.

You need to inform residents in the same way as with Regulation 9. A modified version of this regulation covers buildings over 11 metres high.

Are HMO fire regulations the same as for high rise residential buildings?

Fire regulations for properties above and below 11 metres in height are similar – as are the HMO fire alarm requirements. The new regulations define what high-rise multi-occupied residential buildings are – at least seven stories or taller than 18 metres above ground level.

In high-rise residential buildings, the responsible person is normally the block manager or building freeholder. However, there may be more than one responsible person if a high-rise residential building is given over to commercial premises. On the other hand, with HMOs, the enforcing authority is nearly always the local housing authority, instead of the local fire and rescue authority for residential high-rise buildings.

As part of their role, responsible persons in these types of buildings need to provide fire safety related information to the fire and rescue services to aid operational planning in case of an emergency. They also have additional rules, including:

• Installation of a secure information box and way-finding signage that can be seen if conditions are smokey and dark
• Monthly checks on on-site fire fighting equipment and evacuation lifts
• Quarterly checks on all fire doors within common areas
• Yearly checks on fire doors at the entrances of individual tenant dwellings.

Tips to reduce fire risks

As well as the new fire safety regulations, make sure you take the following steps to protect your tenants and properties from fire:

• Make sure the smoke alarms work – it’s a condition of your HMO licence to install an adequate smoke detection system in your property. The local authority can demand a declaration on the alarm system you have and its condition.
• Make sure there’s a fire blanket in the kitchen – they quickly smother pan-fire flames as they cut off the oxygen supply to the fire.
• Ban smoking in your property – fires started by cigarettes account for a great 34% of deaths in England and Wales. Not only this, but many tenants will be less than thrilled at the idea of living in a property where smoking is allowed, so you may increase your pool of renters by banning it.
• Get your electrics tested regularly – every five years as required by law. Electrical faults can fry your tenant’s equipment, meaning you have to spend money repairing or replacing them. In the worst cases, fires caused by electrical issues can cause damage to your property, too.

As a HMO landlord, you’re required by law to take all reasonable steps to protect your tenants from the risk of fire. You should also protect your rental property with landlord contents insurance, which covers the repair or replacement of furniture, furnishings and freestanding items provided for your tenants in your rental property damaged by an insured peril. This includes fire damage.

To find out more about landlord contents insurance, contact us today. Alternatively, get a quote online today or request a callback.